Vintage Caravans

The paint workshop

About Me

Hi my name is Clare and I,m 41 yrs old. I,m happily married after 20 yrs with 2 grown up daughters. I love vintage, shabby chic and quirky items. I especially love vintage caravans. I was diagno
sed with Breast cancer in March 2011.My treatment is complete apart from drug therapy. Starting a blog was a crazy idea that my daughter put in my head to show off "Polly Dolly"
my vintage caravan. I knew nothing about blogging, but I love
it now Iv'e started. I can be very random at times but thats what
makes me unique. Enjoy my
blog and leave some lovely comments if you want too xxx

Feedjit

Friday, 2 August 2013

It has been a long year since moving house. We have really loved it, but it has taken this long to actually get sorted. We have finally sorted out all the boxes and items in the garage and lock up that just get dumped after a move. The annoying thing is we did not really need any of the stored things anyway and they went to recycling or the tip. So I can finally say we are sorted, everything is in its place and I feel so much better.

One of the jobs I have wanted to do for a long time was spend some time on Polly Dolly. She has been sat in the lock up desperate for some TLC which she finally got. She was stripped, cleaned, paint work touched up, new floor and the I finally had the confidence to paint the kitchen. It was a tricky job as nothing could be removed but I did it and it looks gorgeous.

Before

After

This was taken in the lock up but will get some cute shots this weekend as we are going Glamping.One of the things I have been doing for many years is collecting the smallest bits of scraps of material from all my projects, including the 4 caravans. I knew that one day I would think of an idea what to do with them. Well I decided to make a rag rug.

I spent a whole evening cutting the fabric into strips, then spent a week hooking all the fabric in the hessian. Its very addictive but very messy. There was cotton everywhere.

Luigi loved it too as its so soft. It now sits in Polly Dolly on her new floor. Its so addictive that my daughter who is leaving for Uni very soon, started making her own rug to take with her.

We were asked to host some guests for a weekend who were staring in a local charity event. The event was based around singers and dancers from the West End. I have to say we had a brilliant weekend and made some lovely new friends.

This is my daughter with Zoe Curlett the amazing singer from musicals like "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Mis" and the handsome you chap you may recognise from the BBC show "The Voice" Jordan lee Davies. What voices!! They were rehearsing while my hubby and I were out working. The neighbours loved it and actually at one point wondered if it was me and Darren singing, ha ha I wish."Lola" found a new happy home with a lovely young family. I know their first camping trip was a success so here's to many more for them.My latest article is now ready to view also, just click on the link below.http://advice.caravansforsale.co.uk/caravan-tips-and-advice/the-polly-dolly-caravan-restoration-project-part-two.aspx

Thursday, 27 June 2013

It has been a while but I now have something to blog about. We have finished "Lola" the vintage Cheltenham caravan. She has been sat in the lock up for far too long waiting for us too make her pretty and at last she's ready. As she is a very desirable collectors caravan we decided to keep the inside as original as possible. I have to say though she is very cute inside and the cooker is so retro I do keep asking myself why I am selling her.

Yes I went with a pink and white tiled floor. I did get a few concerned comments from people when I mentioned my plans but not surprisingly they actually now say it does work. I have yet again used the lovely Clarke and Clarke fabrics. Firstly because I love their designs and colours and secondly a lovely lady named Jane sells the fabric in her shop in our small town. I am a great believer in supporting the local economy first. l just hope Lola makes someone very happy when she goes to her new home.I have also been very busy with a good friend of mine Lynn, we have started a small business doing shabby chic furniture. Guess what we called it?

It seemed the perfect name. It has really taken off in the short time we have been doing it. We are very lucky as we are able to sell our products in several local shops. We are just coming to the end of a really large local commission for a new business. Cannot put any photo's up yet but will as soon as possible. Here are a few photos of some of our sold or completed pieces.

Sunday, 10 February 2013

Hi everyone, I must firstly apologise for the long gap since posting last. I have no excuses really, I think life just caught up with me and I needed a break. After moving house in the summer and getting through a summer season at work I felt exhausted. I have felt so annoyed with myself at times, unable to do all the the things that make me happy. I have not been the domestic goddess I can be! The last four months have been a bit tough too as I had to have my ovaries removed for several reasons, one being the cancer. With the surgery, the new medication and getting bugs and virus's its been a tiring time. The good news is I feel like I am starting to see the back of all that. Although the crappy cancer drugs are always going to have side effects.There has been some nice things happening here though, I have a new baby boy called "Luigi" who is my gorgeous French bulldog puppy.

He is a marmite dog in my opinion. Some people think they are gorgeous some think them ugly. I think he is so lush with a character I have never seen in other dogs. They are hilarious but incredibly stubborn. Some say they are of low intelligence some say its high. I still cannot decide! All i know is that I am hooked on "Frenchies" now!The other really brilliant thing we have done is had a log burner fitted in the house. This is huge to us after living in military houses for most of our married life. We have had some horrid fake gas/electric fireplaces and surrounds. So one morning I woke up and decided to smash the fireplace up in our newly decorated living room. Behind a plastic fire suite that was in the property when we bought it we found the bricked up the original fireplace. Within 2 weeks we had our new log burner, it is amazing and it heats the whole house.

I think it is gorgeous, the room looks finished now. Luigi loves it too.

Something else recently happened which is I am really finding hard to cope with, my daughter has been sent to Afghanistan. Its breaking my heart, she seems too young to be dealing with this crap. I feel totally useless as a parent, our role is to protect our children but I cannot do anything from here. She has been living overseas with the Army for a year now and I have dealt with that fine, yet this is making me an emotional wreck. Miss her so much.

Stay safe xx

Now my va va voom is starting to return, work will begin again with the caravan's and hopefully other pretty things. We just have a few more things to focus on but I feel ready now. Looking forward to taking "Polly Dolly" out on a few trips also.